By TODD BISHOP, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, May 6, 2007

Microsoft and Novell, seeking to build industry support for their unusual alliance, have signed up Dell as the first computer maker to formally back the deal.

Dell says it will market Novell's Suse Enterprise Linux Server to business customers based on terms of the pact struck between Microsoft and Novell last year. Dell says it was won over by their plans to make Windows and Linux work more smoothly together, and by their promises not to pursue claims against each other's users for patent infringement.

Those provisions of the Microsoft-Novell pact "resonate very strongly with our customers," said Rick Becker, vice president of solutions in the Dell Product Group.

At the same time, Becker said he expects Dell's relationship with the leading Linux vendor, Red Hat, to continue.

One of the provisions of the Microsoft-Novell pact, the protection from patent litigation, has stirred controversy -- particularly after Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said it meant that only customers of Novell's Suse Linux have "paid properly for the use of intellectual property from Microsoft." Linux advocates took umbrage at the suggestion that the operating system violates Microsoft's patents.

Novell also disputed the implication, but the companies "agreed to disagree" on that point while continuing their relationship.

Asked if the controversy gave Dell pause about endorsing the deal, Becker cited customer interest in what Microsoft and Novell are offering under the pact.

Customers "like being able to deploy both Windows and Linux and know that they can interoperate and run their data center better, and they like knowing that they can do so safely, and with (intellectual property) assurance," Becker said. He called it "a pretty easy decision" for the company.

In the industry, some see Microsoft's Novell alliance as a strategy to combat Red Hat, but Microsoft has said it would strike the same sort of deal with Red Hat if it were willing.

Dell has its own alliance with Red Hat, to offer its version of Linux on computer servers. Becker said Dell wants to continue offering customers that choice of Linux distributions.

"From Novell's perspective, I think it's fair to say that having Dell on board does give the whole relationship (with Microsoft) more credibility," said analyst Al Gillen, research vice president at IDC.

"At some level, it puts a certain amount of subtle, but slight, pressure on Red Hat," Gillen added. "You go to Dell to buy a Linux server, and you have a choice of having one which has indemnification through this arrangement or you have a choice of buying one which is indemnified by Red Hat directly, which is a different value proposition."

However, Gillen said, it probably won't be enough to cause a significant difference in the mix of Dell's server sales between Red Hat and Novell.

Under the new arrangement with Novell and Microsoft, Dell will purchase and redistribute Suse Enterprise Linux subscription certificates. Dell is expected to court existing Linux users who don't subscribe to Linux support services from any company.

Dell's endorsement is "incredibly valuable to our road map but also really back to the customer," said Susan Hauser, Microsoft's general manager of strategic partnerships and licensing.

Dell says it will establish a new marketing group to conduct workshops, build proofs of concept and create services to help companies migrate to Suse Linux.

"We're actively going to be working together to pursue customers that already have expressed interest and demand in these areas," said Susan Heystee, Novell's vice president and general manager of global strategic alliances.

The computer maker is one of Microsoft's biggest industry partners, but they're not always in strategic lockstep. Dell recently revived Windows XP, Microsoft's previous operating system, as an option on consumer computers -- dealing a minor blow to Microsoft's efforts to market Windows Vista, its new operating system.

In addition, Dell said last week that it will offer Ubuntu Linux on consumer computers -- not a good development for Microsoft's PC Windows unit.

With the Novell deal, Microsoft says it still wants businesses to choose Windows on computer servers, ideally, but it recognizes that many also want to run Linux, and it advocates Suse Linux for them.

Microsoft and Novell cited customer demands when they announced the patent truce and technology collaboration in November. Microsoft is purchasing and redistributing Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates under the deal, and takers have included Wal-Mart, AIG Technologies, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.